Hundreds march for peace in Port Richmond

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A crowd of about
300 people from Staten Island and around the city attended tonight's march in
Port Richmond to protest the series of suspected hate crimes that have taken place on Staten Island over the past few months.

Community activists
and leaders and political representatives were among those who turned out and spoke to the mostly
Spanish-speaking community as they voiced their concerns and fears as well as a
need to bring the violence and hate crimes here to an end.

The Port Richmond-based Make The Road New York group hosted the 90-minute event, which kicked off at 6 p.m.. Executive Director Anna Marie
Archila noted that a federal judge had stepped into the fight over Arizona’s immigration law at the last minute today, blocking the heart of the measure, just hours before the law was to take effect.

She called the ruling a victory, but she there was much more work to be done.

"It is a partial
victory, but not a total victory. We have to make sure that civil rights of
everyone in the community are protected," she said.

Some in the crowd carried
colorful signs and chanted "Yes, we can!" in Spanish, before kicking off the
march that started out at the corner of Forest and Jewett avenues and ended at
the MRNY office on Port Richmond Avenue..

Among those in attendance was beating victim Alejandro Galindo, whose July 24 attack at the Forest and Jewett corner,
served as a foundation for the march. Tom Aiello from Gov. David Paterson's office also attended

Hundreds gather for march in Port Richmond

Hundreds gather for march in Port RichmondMake the Road NY and community members rally then march to the organization headquarters for an end to the bias attacks on the eve of Arizona's new immigration law taking effect.